


[Press Start]

by kaizuka



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: ? - Freeform, M/M, Video Game AU, additional character tags will appear with each character, and mascot yurio, i don't know what else to tag for now lol, very low key yuuri/everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8670433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaizuka/pseuds/kaizuka
Summary: Yuuri wakes up one day to find himself thrown into an otome game-like reality, where his love interests seem to consist of figure skaters from the Grand Prix, and many of his actions are dictated by one of three choices that pop up in a text box that only he can see. And, as he’s quick to find out, the only way out of the game is to choose a love interest and see the blossoming romance through till the end!

  Russian





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> -heavily inspired by that one gekkan shoujo nozaki kun scene, the dynamics of the harvest moon games, and some of what I’ve heard from other similar games  
> -also, the idea popped up because of a tumblr advertisement that took me off guard  
> -Feat. Yurio the angry cat mascot  
> -this will have either 2 or 3 chapters  
> -this is super self-indulgent  
> -⌒(o＾▽＾o)ノ

Light blue.

Yuuri sits up and blearily rubs the sleep away from his eyes, one hand fumbling around for his glasses. The light is so bright that he ends up having to squint away for a bit, blinking hard against the stinging in his eyes. 

When Yuuri finally manages to get his glasses on his face and adjust his eyes to the bright blue light, he looks up and wishes he hadn’t even bothered to wake up in the first place.

_Where am I?_

His bed sits upon a blank blue expanse that stretches out to nowhere in all directions, a never ending plain of azure that fills Yuuri’s eyes and quickly sends him teetering over the edge towards panic. The bright pink letters floating innocently in front of his bed don’t help either, and it’s all Yuuri can do to gather his wits about him enough to make sense of the giant characters.

“‘Yuuri… In… Love’,” Yuuri reads, feeling his glasses begin to slide down his nose. “‘Press Start’.”

Yuuri stares blankly at the wording for a tiny bit longer before stretching out his arms and bringing his hands in a resounding slap to both cheeks. _Wake! Up!_

It doesn’t help, and now Yuuri’s cheeks hurt.

“Where am I.” Yuuri slams his pillow against his face, squeezing it around his head as if attempting to block out all the light in this godforsaken blue plane of reality. “What. Is. Going. On.”

Yuuri peeks over the edge of the fabric to warily take in the blinking blue cursor that points to the cheerfully pink “Start Game” button. 

“I’m sleeping,” Yuuri says suddenly, face smoothing out into serious contemplation. “I’m dreaming on a new level of awareness, and for some reason my brain wants me to play a romance game.”

He pauses and stares around him, clutching the pillow against his stomach. Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, Yuuri lifts his arms into the air.

“I want a large pork cutlet bowl!” Yuuri declares imperiously. Then, a heartbeat later, “please!”

The ensuing silence seems largely mocking, punctuated by the brightly blinking blue cursor. Yuuri lets his arms flop back down to his sides, feeling incredibly ridiculous. 

“This is the only time I’ll be glad that literally no one is around to see that,” Yuuri mutters, pressing his hand against his face. Again, he peers through his fingers at the only other thing in existence (besides his bed), contemplating whether he was risky enough to start a game he didn’t know about.

Well, Yuuri already knew that he normally wouldn’t jump into anything headfirst without fully understanding just what he was getting into. But Dream Yuuri…

Yuuri purses his lips nervously before hefting the pillow into his hand. With a huff, he chucks it towards the bright pink letters…

…only for it to fall uselessly to the ground a foot away from the Start button. 

_Embarrassing…_ Yuuri thinks, slumping against his bed. Then, with a steadying breath, Yuuri carefully hops down from his bed and onto the blue ground beneath him.

It doesn’t feel any different from a normal hardwood floor, Yuuri quickly realizes as he flexes his toes against against its cool surface. With another wary glance around, Yuuri tiptoes towards the brightly lit lettering. The Start button blinks almost impatiently, and Yuuri feels his hand tremble as he stretches out to gently push against the blinking sign.

_CAN YOU HEAR MY HEARTBEAT?_

Yuuri screams and stumbles backward, losing his balance to fall flat on his butt. Only, there’s nothing _to_ fall back onto—the floor seems to have given way, and Yuuri wails as he plummets through an empty expanse of air. 

The sound of the wind ringing in his ears drowns out most of the singing, and Yuuri clamps his mouth shut against his own yelling, straining to hear the rest of the song. 

_An opening scene?_ Yuuri realizes, blinking his watering eyes against the wind of his descent. He’s been falling for a while now, and even free falling through an empty expanse of blue loses its fear factor when you’ve just basically been sitting there for a while. 

_WE WERE BORN TO MAKE HISTORY!_

_Catchy,_ Yuuri thinks. And then immediately after, _ow!_

Yuuri lets out a yelp as his back collides with hard flooring, and he wrenches himself up, feeling around for any broken bones.

“Sore,” Yuuri mutters worriedly, “but I don’t feel like I just fell a billion miles from the sky.”

“‘A billion miles’, he says. Are you as stupid as you look?”

Yuuri shrieks and scrambles backward again, only to curse loudly when his head bumps against the wood of the bedpost.

“Wow, what a mouth.”

“Who—“ Yuuri gapes when he sets eyes on an angry looking cat perching on the edge of bed, near his face. It’s glaring balefully at him, and Yuuri stares back for only a heartbeat before he opens his mouth again. “You. You’re a dream cat, so you have _got_ to be the one who talked just now.”

“Dream cat?” it says in a startlingly deep voice. “I am _the_ cat, you pig.”

“That voice…” Yuuri squints into angry looking green eyes, before he wheels back, startled. “Yurio?”

“Don’t call me that!” Yurio screeches, fur standing on end. Yuuri hardly registers the fury in his tone, opting instead to reach out for the tiny Russian skater. 

“What happened to you, you look so cute—!” Yuuri yelps when Yurio leaps at him, hissing angrily. 

Yuuri only registers the sound of high beeping once he’s flat on his back with Yurio digging claws into his front, and he frowns confusedly as he reaches up to straighten his skewed glasses. “What’s that noise?”

“Your health points,” Yurio says flatly, sitting back on his haunches to lick at a paw. “You did an action, and that’s the result. Minus ten health points.” Yuuri follows the pointed direction of a small brown nose to the space above him. Interestingly enough, Yuuri can see the time and a subdued green health bar, already depleted by ten points. 

“I only went to pet you!” Yuuri retorts accusingly, and Yurio scoffs. 

“That was your first mistake! Pig!”

“Even in my dreams, you’re cranky,” Yuuri sighs. 

“It’s not a dream. It’s a _game_ ,” Yurio retorts impatiently. “Welcome to Yuuri!!! In Love, your everyday romance game. I’m Yuri Plisetsky, your… aid.” Yurio gags as if just saying the sentence has pained him, and Yuuri winces at the supposed threat of a hairball. 

“I got that from the start button and everything, but why are _you_ my aid…? You’re like a mascot?”

“Good question. I don’t plan on helping you.”

“Great.” Yuuri lets his head fall back, staring dolefully at his health bar. “This is possibly the most ridiculous thing my brain could have come up with.”

“I don’t know what you’re going on about,” Yurio says as he examines a freshly groomed paw, “but you only have a few minutes before the game starts. I’m required to give you a breakdown of the more important points of the game to get you started.”

“Alright then,” Yuuri says. The clock above his head is frozen at 07:59AM, and he studies it and the health bar curiously. “Tell me about it.”

“First, I can only help you if you bring me my favorite food.” Yurio stretches languidly, and Yuuri winces again when he feels tiny pinpricks from Yurio’s claws once more. “Advice in exchange for payment. That way, things are equal.”

“What’s your favorite food, then?” Yuuri asks.

“I’m not telling you!” Yurio spits, and Yuuri rolls his eyes. “Next, throughout the day, your health bar is going to decrease. You either have to eat in order to get back some energy, or you have to go to sleep until the next day to make it full again. Why am I telling you this? Shouldn’t this be common sense for video games?”

“Come on, what else?”

“Next is the romance part, which is gross, so I’m not telling you about that either.”

“Yurio,” Yuuri says exasperatedly, and gets a face full of of angrily fluffed up tail for his troubles.

“All you need to know is that to finish this game, you need to complete a romance route! Pig!”

“With who?” Yuuri replies, and this time, Yurio merely cocks his head to the side.

“The game is starting,” Yurio yawns straight into his face, and then Yuuri’s bedroom door flies open. 

“Yuuri, you’re going to be late for school!” his mother says fretfully, and Yuuri sits up hastily. School? But he’d graduated from college already—

“First day of high school!” his mother continues, beaming, and Yuuri wheels around to stare at Yurio in betrayal. 

Russia’s now-fluffy fairy merely rolls over onto his back in Yuuri’s bed, pointedly ignoring him. 

“I’m sure Phichit is already on his way to meet you by the door! I know you were both so excited to start your first day!” Yuuri’s mother calls out behind her as she bustles out. 

“Phichit?” Yuuri blinks, relief seeping into his bones. A familiar face! Yuuri quickly steps over to the bed to prod gently at Yurio’s side. “Hey, hey! Who’s Phichit in this game? Can you at least give me one free answer since it’s just the beginning?”

Yurio sighs exasperatedly. “Childhood friend. By the way, you really should get ready, stupid, or else the game can’t advance.”

Loud beeping catches Yuuri’s attention again, and his head snaps up to stare at his health bar. _Minus ten? Again?_ “Yurio!”

“Every time you consult me, that’s minus ten, by the way!” Yurio says almost gleefully, finally turning to blink slowly at Yuuri. “Better do it sparingly, fatty!”

“Oh, my god,” Yuuri groans, passing a hand across his face. Yuuri quickly turns to bumble around the tiny, unfamiliar room, grabbing at the standard high school uniform hanging by the door. But unlike his old high school uniform, this one looks a bit fancier with its dark blue slacks and gray blazer. He dresses in no time (only fumbling with the tie for a moment), and Yuuri glances at the snoozing cat stretched out on his bed. Before he can chicken out, Yuuri reaches out to pat soft fur, darting out the bedroom door the second Yurio begins howling indignantly. 

One generic buttered toast and a packed lunch later, Yuuri steps out of the doorway of his “home”, silently taking in the unfamiliar neighborhood around him. 

_Everything looks normal,_ Yuuri thinks, looking up at the soft blue sky. _I wonder how I’m supposed to play? And what about my health bar, what happens when it’s empty?_ Yuuri pauses. _Uh… do I die?_

“Yuuri!”

Yuuri turns at the sound of a cheerful voice, smiling at the sight of Phichit. 

“Good morning,” his friend says happily as he approaches Yuuri. “Are you ready for the first day of school?”

Yuuri open his mouth to reply, only to find that his voice won’t come out. Yuuri freezes, startled, and jumps when a semi-transparent looking text box pops up into existence before him.

_I’m ready now that you’re here!_

_No, way!_

_I don’t even want to go now that I’ve seen your face._

Yuuri gapes at the apparent dialogue options, and a quick glance at Phichit shows that his friend is none the wiser, patiently staring at Yuuri with a smile as he waits for a reply.

A reply that Yuuri has to choose from the three, apparently, and he frowns in consternation. Option one was just too… flirty, wasn’t it? And Yuuri liked Phichit, but he wasn’t sure if he liked the guy enough to choose his “route”. Option three was just plain _rude_ , and option two… Yuuri frowns again. It was probably the safest one.

Even as he thinks it, the bright blue cursor beeps softly as it moves down to the second option, and the text flashes as it’s selected. 

Phichit’s mouth falls into a startled ‘O’. “I see! Go ahead and take the time to get ready if you need to!” 

Yuuri stares blankly at Phichit before realizing his friend really isn’t going to move until Yuuri finishes his preparations. 

_But I’m already ready, so…_ Yuuri opens his mouth again, and the text box pops up. 

This time it has the same choice options minus the second, and Yuuri sighs internally before picking option one.

Immediately, Yuuri sort of regrets it when Phichit’s face turns pink. 

“Yuuri!” is all Phichit says as he blushes, and then he’s grabbing Yuuri by the arm to gently tug him past the front door. “We’re going to be late to school!”

 _Oh, no,_ Yuuri thinks. _If all the options are going to be like that, I’m either going to have several boyfriends, or a bunch of enemies._

Then, _wait. Boyfriends?_

“It’s too bad we aren’t in the same class,” Phichit interjects, and Yuuri blinks at him, suddenly dismayed. First day of high school all over again, and he wasn’t even going to have a friend around? 

Speaking of which…

“Phichit,” Yuuri says slowly, “aren’t you twenty?”

“Yes?” Phichit replies. “And you’re twenty-three!”

“Yes. So, why are we in high school? In Japan? Can you even speak Japanese?”

Phichit merely smiles back, and Yuuri shrugs. _Dream logic._

This game’s high school ends up looking very similar to the high school Yuuri had attended as a teenager, and Yuuri frowns when he thinks back to his own (actual) high school days.

_…And I hope I don’t actually have to study high school subjects again in this game. I’ve had enough of that already, thanks._

“Yuuri!”

Yuuri and Phichit both turn at the sound of an elated cry, and Yuuri’s eyes widen at the sight of a tuft of blonde hair.

“Minami?”

“You remember me!” Minami says in relief as he darts up to the both of them, hands clutching at his schoolbag. “Good morning!”

“Good—“ Yuuri begins, and scowls when his voice chokes off as another text box appears before him, and the blue cursor blinks almost mockingly.

_Hello, you’re looking so cute today!_

_Gross, it’s you…_

_Pat his head._

Yuuri stares at the text options in disbelief. _Are you kidding me?_

The cursor winks merrily at him, and Yuuri almost apprehensively watches it skip down to the last option. There was no way he was going to pick another flirty-sounding option, and his conscience couldn’t handle being mean to someone so sincerely kind. 

Yuuri’s arm moves almost mechanically, and Yuuri can only look on in bemusement as he gives the younger boy a gentle pat on the head. Minami looks ridiculously overjoyed at this, pressing a hand against his own head in excitement.

“G-good morning,” Yuuri says hastily, studiously avoiding both Minami’s and Phichit’s eyes. “So… you’re a freshman too, Minami?”

“That’s right!”

Yuuri glances at Phichit exasperatedly as if to say _this game logic is really becoming too much for me_ , only to lean back in surprise when he finds his friend close and crowding into his space. “O…kay. Shouldn’t we be getting to the opening ceremony?”

“Right!” Minami cheers as Phichit leans back and runs a hand through his hair, looking faintly disappointed. 

“We’re already there,” Phichit says sulkily, and Yuuri stares at him perplexedly. 

“What—“

The bell rings shrilly, abruptly cutting him off, and the chatter and bustle of the other students around them suddenly breaks off. 

Yuuri feels like his neck is going to snap with how fast he turns his head, and he reels at the sight of rows and rows of silent students standing in neat lines in front of him. A quick glance to his left and right presents even more unfamiliar faces, but Minami leans out from behind a particularly tall student to give Yuuri a tiny elated wave. Phichit has disappeared from his side too, and Yuuri looks around, completely disoriented. When did they get into the auditorium? 

_What just happened? Did I accidentally skip a cutscene? I wish it wasn’t so hard to get information out of Yurio,_ Yuuri thinks, feeling slightly panicked once again. _Even if this is a dream, I don’t want to be completely swept away by its pace…_

“Good morning, everyone!”

Yuuri freezes from where he’d been turning to look for Phichit, heart beginning to race at the sound of yet another familiar voice. His head begins to turn infinitesimally slowly, eyes drawn to the podium at the front of the stage.

Victor Nikiforov, his _coach_ , leans against the podium with his usual congenial smile, dressed in the exact same uniform as Yuuri. A twenty-seven year old man should look ridiculous in a high school uniform, but luckily, the gray of the blazer suits him and hugs close to Victor’s broad shoulders.

 _Video game logic,_ Yuuri thinks dazedly, eyes trained on Victor. Then, _I want_ his _route_. 

Yuuri shakes himself out of his reverie, feeling faintly embarrassed. _Wait, what am I saying? That’s seriously so bold of me… Besides, what if Victor doesn’t even have a route?_

(However, part of him seriously doubts that.)

“It’s been a wonderful ceremony, and I thank you for listening closely to the announcements,” Victor continues cheerfully, and Yuuri internally rolls his eyes. Apparently he’d missed most of the ceremony itself, and if the game continued like this, Yuuri felt like he was sure to get lost. “My name is Victor Nikiforov, and I’m this year’s school president. I’m looking forward to spending the upcoming school year working with you to make this another great term!”

 _Of course you would be the school president,_ Yuuri thinks, absently admiring the way Victor’s bangs fall across his face. _…would his route be harder than the others, then?_

Victor is smiling, and Yuuri studies him closely without paying much attention to what his coach is saying. 

_Does he know me in this game? Phichit and Minami seem to, so…_

Victor’s eyes suddenly flick to Yuuri’s, and Yuuri’s mind fills with white noise as he stares over the crowd and into familiar eyes. 

The bell rings.

“Yuuri, how was your first day of school?” Phichit appears out of nowhere, sending Yuuri jumping straight into the air. Yuuri stares at him, aghast. “What?” 

Again, Yuuri nearly strains his neck to stare around, and is disconcerted to find himself outside the school once again. Only this time, groups of students mill about, talking or breaking off to walk home. _The day already ended?_ Yuuri thinks, startled. He squints his eyes against the afternoon sun. 

“Your first day! Of school? I’m sure you must have missed me!” Phichit teases, throwing an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders. “My day was pretty boring, and it just makes me miss vacation even more. I wish I could walk home with you, but I joined a club over the summer, and the meetings are already starting today!”

“Oh—it went fine.” Not that Yuuri would know, though. “And it’s alright, Phichit, we—“

Yuuri’s voice catches again, and he glowers at the reappearance of the text box.

_We can always walk together every morning._

_You can make it up to me with a date!_

The first one isn’t so bad, Yuuri realizes in relief, choosing to completely ignore the second option. There’s a small beep as he makes his choice, and Phichit beams at him.

“That’s right! Thanks, Yuuri!”

Phichit darts away, quickly heading back to the school’s entrance, and Yuuri stares after him, feeling slightly unsteady.

 _It was just morning a few seconds ago,_ Yuuri thinks frustratedly. _Why is it suddenly late afternoon? Is the game constantly going to be like this?_

“The beginning of the game is always like that,” comes a voice right by his ear, and Yuuri flinches back. 

Yurio sits atop of a wall, regarding Yuuri with narrowed green eyes. “It really is just an introductory day. You get more freedom the longer the game goes on.”

“Did you come to pick me up?” Yuuri asks, feeling touched. However, Yurio swipes at his glasses irritably, sending them askew across Yuuri’s nose.

“Don’t be gross, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t required to be,” Yurio grumbles, flicking an ear. “This is one checkpoint where I can answer your questions for free. But only a few.”

Yuuri’s mouth flies open immediately, only to clamp shut when a text box materializes in front of him. He leans forward contemplatively, staring at the question options. 

_What happens when I run out of health points? How do I raise affection? Possible routes?_

Yuuri frowns. Only three options?

“You only faint when you run out of health points,” Yurio yawns once Yuuri has made his selection. “You’re sent to the nurse’s office if you’re at school, or back to bed if you’re anywhere else. But if you’re sent to the nurse’s office, you lose currency.” Yurio sounds smug again, and swipes at his paw with a small tongue. “By the way, the currency is ‘katsudon’. Suits you.”

Yuuri rolls his eyes before eyeing the text selection again.

“Routes? Hell if I know.” Yurio snorts loudly at Yuuri’s tiny frown. “No, really—you have to figure those ones out for yourself.”

“But, Minami? Seriously? He’s way younger.”

“You’re all first years, aren’t you?” Yurio says uncaringly. “Besides, how do you even know he’s an option?”

“I dont,” Yuuri replies, pressing a hand against his chin.

“Besides,” Yurio says suddenly, sounding bored. “It doesn’t actually matter. You’ve already chosen, haven’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Last question!” Yurio snaps imperiously.

>> _how do I raise affection?_

“Easy. Talking or giving gifts. Those are the basics, and that’s all I’m telling you.”

“Gifts,” Yuuri mumbles, watching the text box fade away. “Sounds so simple… Yurio, what about—“ He breaks off at the sight of an empty wall, and Yuuri sighs. Yurio is long gone. 

“I guess… I’ll just go home,” Yuuri says out loud. “And save? How do I even save? By sleeping?”

Yuuri sets off in the direction of “home”, glancing uneasily at the students around him. They all have mostly generic faces, and Yuuri doubts that he’d be able to recall them if he ever tried. _So I guess only people I know will have routes. That means Victor could have one, right?_

Yuuri rounds the corner, so deep in thought that he hardly realizes where he’s going. _I’m just thinking that Victor would be the easiest choice. I mean… I feel comfortable around him. Right? And I—_

Yuuri collides painfully into something—someone—rounding the corner at a brisk walk. The person is considerably taller as well, and Yuuri’s sent toppling backwards under the weight of the other person. 

_You have got to be kidding me—_ is all Yuuri can think, and then he’s flat on his back with a mouthful of somebody else’s tie.

“Woah! Sorry, sorry, I didn’t see you coming!”

Yuuri spits out the fabric in shock, and his eyes flick up to take in Victor’s worried gaze. 

“Hey… you go to my school, right?” Victor says, beginning to smile and hardly seeming to care that he’s _still_ literally on top of Yuuri. His arms are caging Yuuri’s head, giving Yuuri no choice but to stare up at his idol. “Are you alright?”

The dreaded text box pops up again, and Yuuri’s heart skips at the sight of it, because didn’t that mean that Victor _did_ have a route? 

But the options…

_Kiss him._

_Knee him in the gut!_

Yuuri screams internally, eyes widening in dismay. _Click kiss hi—NO! What am I thinking, don’t click that one!_

Yuuri nearly collapses in relief when he realizes that there’s a third option to merely “apologize profusely”, and he watches the cursor skip over the two more dangerous options to select the third.

“No, no, it’s my fault as well,” Victor says amicably. “I was in a rush to head back to school because I forgot a textbook.” _Finally_ , Yuuri’s idol moves to stand up, stretching out and arm to offer Yuuri a hand up. 

He gratefully takes it, reveling in how familiar Victor’s hand feels—but when he tries to let go, Victor holds on tighter, gently squeezing his fingers. “I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” Victor says, flashing Yuuri another brilliant smile.

 _So he doesn’t know me in this game,_ thinks Yuuri, feeling vaguely disappointed. 

“I’m Yuuri,” he replies instead, returning Victor’s familiar smile with one of his own. “I know you—president, right?”

“Right!” Victor looks elated, and Yuuri feels a sudden pang of loss. After Victor had become his coach, much of the distance that Yuuri had felt had diminished to almost nothing. To have Victor not even know his name _again…_

 _I’m choosing his route,_ Yuuri thinks determinedly. 

“It was nice meeting you, but I do need to rush back and grab that textbook,” Victor continues, looking a little crestfallen. “But I’ll see you in school, right?”

_Of course! I’ll look forward to it!_

_No way, I don’t think I’d like that very much…_

Yuuri doesn’t even hesitate with his choice, and his cheeks burn a little at Victor’s resulting smile. 

“I will too! Goodbye, Yuuri!”

Yuuri watches his coach’s retreating back, feeling slightly dazed. This game was absolutely ridiculous, and his situation was ridiculous, but if he was here, Yuuri figured he might as well play till the end.

 _…I should have chosen the kiss,_ Yuuri thinks distractedly, watching the shine of Victor’s hair in the afternoon sun. _Oh well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw [this advertisement](https://66.media.tumblr.com/9209c33c587deb40a3e9397c4ce9ef28/tumblr_ohahv0er6y1rysq3zo1_1280.jpg) on tumblr and I couldn't resist because
> 
> me: WHY would you immediately think _let me kiss this guy who just crashed into me despite the fact that he’s a total stranger_
> 
> me:
> 
> me: *clicks “Go For it!”*
> 
> Wonderful wonderful wonderful artwork by white-seafoam [here!](http://white-seafoam.tumblr.com/post/153787100435/i-shouldve-go-to-sleep-or-draw-for-yuuris) Thank you so much!! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonderful wonderful wonderful artwork by white-seafoam [here!](http://white-seafoam.tumblr.com/post/153787100435/i-shouldve-go-to-sleep-or-draw-for-yuuris) Thank you so much!!
> 
> The responses towards the beginning have been super sweet so far!❤ Thank you all for reading. This is one au I jumped headfirst into--I just couldn't resist!!

A bird chirps from somewhere in the corner of his consciousness, and Yuuri drowsily blinks himself awake. Every morning is always a struggle, especially when you have to wake up early enough to please a certain Russian coach. Yuuri yawns, rubbing at an eye as he casts his other hand around for his glasses. _I hope we can go over the last part of the free program today,_ he thinks blearily as the cold plastic of his glasses settles upon the bridge of his nose. _I know I need to get my short program down before we can really move on, but I still think Victor might be a little too thorough this time around…_

Yuuri’s eyes slide shut again, even as he swings his legs over the side of the bed, and his toes flex at the feel of cool hardwood underneath his feet. _Well… he knows best. Victor is the coach after all. My coach._ Even now, the thought still brings a blush to his cheeks. _But maybe I can bring the idea up to him today. Because yesterday, we… Yesterday, we worked on…_ Yuuri pauses, and his eyes slowly begin to inch open.

_What did we do yesterday?_

Bright green eyes fill his vision at the exact moment Yuuri feels a foreign weight plop onto his lap, and he screeches—loudly. 

The resounding thud of his head hitting the wall behind him is punctuated by Yurio’s caterwauling and the high beeping of his hp gauge going down, and Yuuri is unceremoniously thrust into the realization that _he’s still playing the otome game._

“ _Yurio!_ ”

“What the hell is wrong with you, you pig?! You moron! You insufferable idiot!” Yurio’s resounding screeches echo throughout the still unfamiliar bedroom, and Yuuri groans as he flops dejectedly back onto the bed beneath him.

“Why am I still _here?_ ”

“That’s a question _I’d_ like to ask,” Yurio grumbles, ending his tirade with an irritable flick of his ear. “But the answer should be obvious enough. You haven’t finished the game yet! Pig!”

“Finished the game…” Yuuri echoes, pushing up his glasses to press a hand exasperatedly against his eyes. A second later, heat floods his face once more, and Yuuri feels Yurio press light paws onto the top of his thigh.

“Ew. What are you thinking about? That’s the second time you’re blushing, and it’s kind of creeping me out.”

Yuuri doesn’t bother to answer in favor of sitting back up so abruptly that it sends Yurio tumbling backwards, hissing all the while.

Yuuri _remembers_ the objective of the game—it isn’t that hard to remember, after all. But the memory of _whose_ route he’d decided to choose… Yuuri blushes again and conceals his red cheeks by stepping quickly towards where he’d remembered the restroom to be, silently grateful that he’d woken up early enough this time around. 

When Yuuri returns to the bedroom, feeling incredibly refreshed, he finds Yurio lounging in a spot of sunlight on the floor, tail waving in the air.

“You have fifteen minutes,” the cat says sluggishly, and Yuuri looks around for a phone that he remembers doesn’t exist. 

Even as soon as he’s thought it, a loud click resounds throughout the room, sounding much like the shutter sound of a cell phone camera. Yurio lets out a savage snarl as he leaps back up onto all fours, bristling indignantly. “Who the _hell_ said you could take a picture, katsudon?”

“I didn’t! I mean—I don’t think I did!” Yuuri says hurriedly, hands waving. “I swear!”

Yurio snorts, glaring at him with flattened ears for a second longer before turning away to lay back down. “Well, at least you learned how to use the picture option. But I swear, another one of those is going to cost you big time.”

“With what?”

“With katsudon. Like I said.”

“But how do I _earn_ ‘katsudon’?” Yuuri replies, beginning to feel just as frustrated as yesterday. The only reply he gets is in the form of Yuuri languidly flipping over and abruptly falling back asleep.

Yuuri sighs and unhooks his uniform from where it had been hanging, mindful of the transparent clock hanging just above his head. If he hurried, he could eat really fast and still make it in time to meet Phichit at the front door. Did dream food taste just as good as real food?

Ten minutes later finds Yuuri eagerly scarfing down a homemade breakfast, his mother and father at their game assigned spots in the kitchen. 

“Good, good!” his mother says cheerfully as Yuuri inhales the last of his food. “I have a snack for you, here! And let me give you your allowance! You’ll need it for school, after all.”

Yuuri blinks as a chime sounds right above his head. He looks up just in time to see a tiny icon of a pork cutlet bowl pop up into existence right next to a newly filled hp bar. 

_20 katsudon._

“Oh… thank you,” Yuuri tells his in-game mother, smiling. 

His dreams were even detailed enough to get her and his father’s faces down to their relaxed smiles, something that he marvels at as his father and mother wave him out the front door. Yuuri pauses to peek into the bag, widening his eyes at the sight of two freshly warmed steamed buns gleaming up at him from its bottom. 

“Yuuri!”

Phichit is all sunny smiles, exactly like Yuuri’s Phichit, and his friend’s familiarity soothes some of the anxiety Yuuri had been feeling. _I wish Victor was here, too,_ Yuuri can’t help but think, and the bag crinkles under his tense fingers. _Then maybe everything would be a little less confusing._

“What is that?” Phichit asks, shaking Yuuri from his reverie. His friend tilts his head to the side inquisitively, peering at the bag as if he’d be able to see through the material to what was inside.

Yuuri pauses, half expecting dialogue options to pop up, and exhales in relief when the space in front of him remains clear. 

“They’re steamed buns,” Yuuri finally replies, opening the bag to show Phichit. “They’re really fresh, so I was thinking of just eating them now. Do you want one?”

“Can I?” Phichit asks, beaming. His grin only widens when Yuuri plops the steamed bun into his hand. Yuuri laughs as Phichit eagerly bites into the bun, and his friend presses a hand against happily reddened cheeks.

“Mmm, thanks Yuuri!” Phichit continues through his mouthful. “I didn’t even get to eat breakfast this morning, so I’m really happy!”

Yuuri opens his mouth to reply, only to falter at the sight of something flashing on the left side of Phichit’s chest. Its shape is indiscernible, and Yuuri only sees a flash of something changing from gray to pink before it disappears from sight. 

He blinks. _Huh. Weird._

“Let’s go, or else we’ll be late!” And with that, Phichit takes off down the road, happily clutching the steamed bun.

Yuuri begins to step forward as well when Yurio’s sharp voice stops him in his tracks. 

“Keep that up, and you’re going to have a lot of trouble on your hands,” Yurio says, blinking large eyes at him from where he’s crouched in a nearby bush.

“How did you get there so fast?” Yuuri asks incredulously. “Wait, nevermind. What was that pink thing? Did I imagine it?”

Yurio merely yawns, flashing a tiny set of pointed teeth that Yuuri kind of wants to poke at. “I don’t see you holding my payment, so no answer for you. The game is progressing, pig, and if I were you, I’d catch up to him. You’ll _really_ be late otherwise.”

Yuuri sighs exasperatedly, carding a hand through his hair as he turns on his heel. It was only the second day. Things would become clearer the further he progressed, right?

Yuuri smiles apprehensively at Phichit’s inquisitive look as he falls into step with his friend. _I’ve never played a game like this one before,_ Yuuri thinks. _So I’m not entirely sure what it_ means _to progress in a game like this. How does it end? Once I’ve confessed?_

The thought of confessing to Victor makes his ears burn, and Phichit hums confusedly through another bite of steamed bun. Rather than explain, Yuuri waves the unasked question away, choosing instead to apprehensively eye the approaching school gates. 

Yurio had said that the reason why the day had gone by so fast yesterday was because it was part of the introduction, but… Yuuri tenses as he and Phichit follow the crowd of students through the metal gates, waiting at any moment for his surroundings to suddenly change. Phichit sighs heavily and Yuuri jumps nearly a foot into the air, startled.

“I have to go to my own class now,” Phichit says forlornly, shrugging his school bag higher on his shoulder. “But I’ll see you later, yeah, Yuuri?”

_We’re eating lunch together, right?_

_I’ll see you after school!_

_I don’t ever want to see your face again!_

Yuuri passes a hand through his hair as Phichit patiently waits for a response, and the cursor blinks twice before selecting the first option. Phichit beams at Yuuri’s selection, waving eagerly as he walks backwards towards the school building. 

“Alright! You promised!” his friend says as Yuuri waves back, smiling bemusedly. 

_Do I actually have to go to class?_ Yuuri thinks. _Uh… wait. I don’t even know where my class_ is.

“Phichit—!” Yuuri begins, wheeling around to dart after his friend. 

His face mashes against a broad chest and sends him spiraling into a feeling of deja vu, and then Yuuri is reeling backwards, giving him only half a second to think, _oh, not again._

A hand catches at his arm before he can land on his ass, and Yuuri scrabbles for purchase on the sleeve of someone’s blazer. 

“Again?” 

Yuuri’s mouth falls open of its own accord as he’s unceremoniously thrust into a sense of deja vu. Blue eyes and a heart shaped smile, and a voice so warm that it almost always compelled Yuuri into doing anything it told him to do. 

_”Yuuri!”_

_”Yuuri, your free leg is sloppy! Try again!”_

_”Yuuri, I want to know your likes and your dislikes. What are you passionate about? What kind of food do you like to eat? And—_

“Oh? You’re a little close, aren’t you?”

Yuuri blinks. He’s never heard that one before. Half a second later, Yuuri is violently pulled back into reality when the breath of _this_ Victor’s chuckle sends Yuuri’s bangs fluttering away from his face for the tiniest of heartbeats. 

Yuuri’s heart leaps up into his throat when he realizes that he’s got both hands clasped tightly around Victor’s biceps, nearly bunching the fabric of the blazer, and his nose is mere inches away from Victor’s, close enough that they’re brushing. 

Immediately, Yuuri scrambles backwards so fast that he’s sure he’s leaving skid marks, and this time it’s Victor’s mouth that falls into a tiny little ‘O’ of surprise.

“What? Why are you running away?”

_There’s the Victor I’m familiar with,_ Yuuri thinks dazedly, taking in the sight of Victor in a school uniform—again. Part of Yuuri desperately wants to launch himself into Victor’s arms, even as another sends alarm bells of embarrassment ringing in his head. But Yuuri is so _sick_ of playing this game. It’s still so unfamiliar and so unsettling, and all Yuuri wants is a piece of familiarity in this upside down world. Yurio was a _cat_ —what could get more upside down than that?

Yuuri’s mouth falls open again, ready to say something, anything—

_Hey! Watch it, klutz!_

_Oh! I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault!_

_Kiss him._

Yuuri can feel his mouth twist in frustration even as Victor continues to stare amicably at him, patient and blank faced. 

_This isn’t the Victor I know,_ Yuuri has to remind himself, angrily staring down at the text options. _And I’m starting to think that this entire thing isn’t just a dream._

Yuuri almost lets the cursor fall down to the third option in his annoyance. Still, he pauses, nerves beginning to settle low in his stomach. With a low sigh, Yuuri watches the cursor blink back up to the second option, and the cursor and the apologetic text blink once before disappearing before his eyes. 

The in-game Victor finally springs to life, movement granted to his limbs now that Yuuri has made his choice. Yuuri watches as Victor fluidly steps forward to hold out a hand in an echo of the day before. Once again, Yuuri takes it, and doesn’t feel too inclined to let go this time around. Even so, Yuuri lets Victor’s hand slide through his fingers as he holds onto Victor’s cheerful gaze with tired eyes. 

“It isn’t your fault,” this Victor says gently, “it’s mine. I actually came up because I remembered you from yesterday and wanted to ask how you were.” He smiles then, and Yuuri has to steel himself against how devastatingly handsome Victor looks. “So… how are you?”

Yuuri licks his lips, tentatively waiting for another text box to pop up before allowing himself to speak. “I… I’m fine, thanks.”

“Oh, good.” Victor’s smile widens, and he tucks his schoolbag closer to his side. Victor in a high school uniform—it’s ridiculously _cute_ , against all odds. “I’d be a terrible student body president if I’d injured one of my schoolmates.”

“You’re a great president,” Yuuri says hastily, “and I liked your welcoming speech yesterday.” Never mind that the game hadn’t actually let Yuuri hear it, but what did Victor know?

“Thank you!” Victor replies, beaming ecstatically. “How are you liking the school so far? Have you found all your classes yet?”

“I…” Yuuri wracks his brain. “I enjoyed them. But I can’t exactly remember where my homeroom is.” He blinks, feeling suddenly nervous again. “Could you show me where it is?”

“Of course! Do you have your class list? I can lead you there in no time.”

Yuuri sighs, feeling slightly dismayed. A class list? He didn’t have that—he didn’t have anything school related, which would have been an absolute nightmare for him in an actual school setting. “I don’t—“ He freezes. Yuuri’s right hand, which had been hanging against his side, clenches suddenly around a flimsy piece of paper. He brings it to his eyes and is astounded to see the inky black lettering of a school schedule set neatly upon white paper. 

“Perfect.” Victor gently takes it from Yuuri’s slack hand, turning it over to browse the wording on the front of the page. “I know where this is! I had this classroom the year before, actually.” 

Yuuri glances at the piece of paper in Victor’s hand as they begin to walk side by side towards the entrance of the school building. Honestly, Yuuri figures he shouldn’t be startled by anything at this point. Anything could happen, and it seemed like his best bet was to just go with the flow. _And_ play by the rules. At this, Yuuri remembers Yurio’s words from earlier. 

_How do I raise affection?_

_”Easy. By talking or giving gifts. That’s all I’m telling you.”_

Yuuri casts his eyes about, wildly searching for anything that could be considered gift-like. His eyes fall upon a nearby flower pot, and his hand shoots out almost on reflex to pluck up an odd looking blue flower. Yuuri’s eyes flick towards Victor to see whether the president had noticed anything odd. Victor’s eyes are still on the paper, though, and Yuuri figures that this in-game model of his idol isn’t programmed to notice anything beyond the main storyline. Yuuri sighs. 

“I have a gift for you,” Yuuri says, and is rewarded with the sight of Victor perking up enthusiastically. 

“A gift?”

Yuuri grimaces at the lone flower before thrusting it out before him, stretching it until it tickles Victor’s chin. His idol—his coach—laughs in delight, and his free hand comes up to take the flower from Yuuri’s hand. Yuuri blushes, despite himself, feeling dazed at the sight of Victor’s familiar affectionate smile.

“I like these! Thank you, Yuuri.” In another second, the flower has disappeared, and Yuuri blinks, hard. Victor hadn’t moved aside from turning away again to look down at the paper and continue walking, and Yuuri chalks it up to another one of the game’s many whims. 

_Fine,_ Yuuri thinks, annoyed. _If I have to play to leave, then I’m going to play._

“Here we are,” Victor says contemplatively, tapping up the now-folded class schedule against his lips as he stares contemplatively at the class numbers above the door. In turn, Yuuri stares at Victor.

_Perfect. You’re dismissed, now._

_Thank you so much! Is there any way I can thank you?_

_Leave without a word._

Yuuri presses his lips together as he wills the cursor to click the second option. Didn’t some of the options seem just a little too harsh?

“To thank me?” Victor smiles again, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. “Well… I wouldn’t mind another one of those flowers. What do you think?”

Something chimes above Yuuri’s head, and he glances up reflexively. Below the time and his health gauge, a _+1 request!_ pops up into existence across from the 20 katsudons. Even as Yuuri’s eyes fall upon it, a miniature menu board stretches out from the line and into his field of vision, filled with a single lighted square. _Give Victor one (1) sky flower! Deadline: Wed 8PM._

_So, tomorrow? Same blue flower,_ Yuuri thinks. _Got it._

Victor waves him forward to his classroom, now seemingly out of programmed dialogue to say. Yuuri spares him one long glance before reaching a hand forward to slide the doors of his classroom open. 

The bell chimes, and Yuuri has to press a hand against his eyes, momentarily disoriented. And suddenly _furious_ —he’s been planted unceremoniously in the front of the school once again, the late afternoon sunshine and the easygoing chatter of students around him signaling an end to yet another school day.”

“This is just too much to process,” Yuuri grumbles, rubbing his temples. “But at least it means I don’t have to deal with school.”

Another loud chime sounds again, only this time, it sounds like the ring of a cellphone message. An instant later, another transparent box floats into existence in front of Yuuri, and he squints at the blocky lettering.

_New message from Phichit Chulanont,_ it reads. _Yuuri! Can’t walk home with you again—caught up in club activities. See you tomorrow!_

The message winks out of existence after Yuuri has read the last word, and he rubs the back of his head, bemused. Was his cell phone his brain in this game? _I mean, it makes sense when you think of the structure of most games,_ Yuuri muses, glancing up at the basic information above his head as he begins the walk home. _At least it means most of it is easily accessible._ He shrugs his schoolbag onto his shoulder. _Is this just for props then? Can I just ditch it?_

When Yuuri rounds a corner (and mentally braces himself for some sort of bodily collision), he’s surprised (and slightly dismayed) to see a Victor-free sidewalk. Instead, an old man with his cap tucked low over his eyes leans against the cement wall a little ways from Yuuri, and Yuuri squints. He doesn’t _seem_ dangerous or suspicious. In fact, Yuuri thinks as the man tilts his head back and repositions a brown paper bag under his arm, he looked rather lonely.

Yuuri slows to a stop despite himself, eyes wide as he blinks at the grandfatherly man. “Hello.”

The old man spares him one baleful glance from underneath his cap before huffing and turning away. 

Yuuri clears his throat, embarrassed now, but spurred on by a tiny part of him to keep trying. “ _Hello._ ”

“What?” the other man finally says gruffly, turning a critical eye towards Yuuri. “What do you want?”

“Nothing, I… can I help you?”

“Help _me?_ ” The old man snorts, but nevertheless settles to regard Yuuri with a contemplative stare. “As it was, maybe. Want to buy some of these Pirozhkis off of me? Said to be beloved by the beautiful Russian Fairy.” The man preens at his own words, smugly plucking at his beard.

“No thanks, I don’t think—“ Yuuri pauses. “Wait. ‘Beloved by the Russian Fairy’? As in, they’re his favorite food?”

“Are you dim?” the man says roughly, balancing the paper bag higher on his arm. “That’s what I _said._ ”

“I’ll buy them!” Yuuri says eagerly. With Yurio’s favorite food, it would be ten times easier to get answers out of the cranky cat. “How much? I have 20 katsudon on me right now, if that’s enough.”

“Twenty?” the old man echoes incredulously. “You’re kidding me. This is worth _way_ more than that!”

Yuuri runs a hand through his hair anxiously. He _needed_ those in order to sway Yurio onto his side, and who knew where the old man would be next? “I can… I can do a request for you? In exchange for the pirozhkis?”

“Nope.”

“I can… I can…” Yuuri leans back on one leg, pressing a hand to his forehead in an attempt to wrack his brain for answers. “I can… supply you with the greatest picture you’ll ever see!”

“Hm?” The old man finally looks intrigued, and he leans forward expectantly. “What is it?”

“It’s the…” Yuuri’s voice squeaks to a halt when the picture of Yurio he’d taken the morning prior slides into his field of vision, before minimizing into regular photo size. He tentatively reaches out a hand, and Yuuri’s eyes widen when he grabs it, its smooth finish new and glossy against his fingers. “It’s the Russian Fairy.”

The old man furrows his brow as he takes the picture from Yuuri, and Yuuri watches as the old man’s mouth finally turns upwards in a semblance of a smile.

“But this is perfect!” he says, enthused. “More than enough for the payment of my precious pirozhkis. In fact, I may just give you something else for your troubles.” Without taking his eyes away from the picture, the old man thrusts the paper bag into Yuuri’s arms to dig into his pockets. “Where was it, where was it… ah! There!”

Yuuri blinks, startled when the man opens his palm. There sits a small silver ring, inlaid with a single of the tiniest of blue hearts Yuuri has ever seen. _A ring?_

“It’s special,” the old man says by way of explanation, keen eyes watching as Yuuri plucks it from his palm. “Goes on the thumb. _Not_ the ring finger—the ring finger’s important.”

“Okay,” Yuuri says, dutifully slipping the ring onto the thumb of his left hand. “What does it do?”

“Shows the affection of any man or woman,” the old man says grandly, still gently clutching the picture between two fingers. “Makes courting much easier.”

“I can see how much they like me?” Yuuri gasps, eyes widening. “That makes _everything_ easier!”

“You’ll only be able to see the affection of potential candidates,” the old man continues, already being a hundred times more helpful than Yurio had been so far. “So keep that in mind.” 

“Great!” Yuuri says, turning his hand over to inspect the silver shine. “I’m definitely wearing this tomorrow. Thank you—“ Yuuri freezes at the sight of an empty walkway, free of any Victors or mysterious pirozhki-carrying old men. He sighs.

 

— — —

 

“ _Pirozhki!_ ”

“Ah-ah,” Yuuri says, holding up a quelling hand against a suddenly very-affectionate cat. “I need answers.”

“Stingy,” Yurio grumbles, plopping down on Yuuri’s lap and curling a tail around his paws. “But I don’t work that way. Pirozhki first, then information.”

Yuuri sighs and tucks a hand into the bag to extract a still-warm Pirozhki, only to have it immediately whisked away by sharp fangs. “Alright,” Yuuri says slowly, watching as Yurio chowed down, “How do I earn katsudon? What are requests? And what happens after I end a route? Does it end after I get a confession?”

“Too many questions,” Yurio grumbles. “First off—I’ll give you a free piece of advice. I only take two Pirozhki a day, so that’s two questions for you. Also, don’t forget it takes up 10 hp each, pig, so be careful to check your health before you do.”

Yuuri glances up to regard a rather full hp bar, and looks down at Yurio with raised eyebrows. The cat snorts. “So? What’s the question of the day?”

Yuuri chews on his bottom lip contemplatively. “I guess I could ask the others later on… for today, I want to know what requests are. Victor gave me one, and it seems pretty easy. Will I get more?”

“Yup,” Yurio says through a hearty mouthful. _Are pirozhki okay for cats to eat?_ “That’s also how you earn katsudon. The currency, I mean. You’ll get a lot of those, and they’ll depend on the person. Just don’t forget to do them. They have time limits, so keep an eye on those.”

“Hmm.” Yuuri pulls out another Pirozhki just as Yurio polishes off the first, and the cat eagerly takes that one too. “Yurio, earlier I got a ring from someone. What does it mean to see someone’s affection?”

Yurio spares a glance for Yuuri’s ring, green eyes narrowing for half a second. “You got one already? Not bad. Test it out tomorrow—you’re gonna see little hearts on people you can have routes with, you katsudon, so it’s important that you keep a hold on that ring. I mean, most people, but that’s besides the point.”

“Most people?” Yuuri echoes. “Oh. Just the ones with possible routes, right?”

Yurio flicks an ear at him, looking as smug as a cat can look. Which was very. “Those are your two questions. Done and done, so I ain’t answering any more.”

Yuuri sighs as Yurio hops off his lap, fully content with two pirozhkis in his stomach. “Look forward to tomorrow, pig-boy. It’ll be fun. This is a game after all.”

 

— — —

 

Yuuri gapes at the tiny pink heart symbol _beating_ on Phichit’s chest, while the man himself looks back at Yuuri, cheerful and blank. 

_So that’s what the thing from yesterday was,_ Yuuri thinks, eyeing the pink of the heart bemusedly and remembering the flash of something going from gray to pink the day prior. _Was that because I gave him a gift?_

“Good morning, Yuuri!” Phichit says enthusiastically, falling into step as they make their way to the school once again. “Did you miss me?”

_Not at all._

_Very!_

Yuuri’s eyes widen when he sees the heart flash once as soon as he’s made his choice. Phichit, in turn, looks very pleased. 

_So_ that’s _where talking comes in!_ Yuuri muses. _Now I’ve got to be extra careful with my dialogue options._

“Phichit,” Yuuri says, heart leaping at the sight of the school gates. “We’re a little early today, right? I need to go see the student body president—I have something I need to deliver to him.”

“Alright!” Phichit replies easily, turning his head to survey the expanse of the school. “I know where he might be. I saw him and some of the other officers by the faculty offices after the welcome ceremony on our first day, so he might be there.”

Right before they enter the school, Yuuri’s eye catches onto an already familiar blue flower, which he quickly plucks from the soil. _Might as well get that request done. It could win me affection points, right?_

Yuuri eagerly follows his friend down the unfamiliar high school corridors, gently clasping the stem of the flower between his fingertips. He can already hear Victor’s voice—warm and lilted, friendly even in its echoes as it carries down the school halls. 

The sight of familiar silver hair launches Yuuri’s heart into overdrive, and he wonders what color Victor’s heart could be. Pink too, maybe, like Phichits? But he’d only given Victor a small gift. Phichit probably had the plus of being a childhood friend route, so his heart probably changed faster. So then Victor’s heart would probably still be gray, if Yuuri remembered right. How many color changes did a heart go through? That would be Yuuri’s next question to Yurio. Yuuri can’t help but think that it would be rather adorable to see Victor with a little heart on his chest, a literal symbol of how much he liked Yuuri. 

Yuuri’s steps are loud against the floor of the hallway, and Victor turns away from his conversation with another student at the sound. His eyes are already smiling when they meet Yuuri’s, and Yuuri can already feel an answering grin turning up the corners of his lips. 

The blue flower’s stem seems warm between his fingertips, and he begins to hold it up. 

“Victor—!”

Yuuri freezes in his tracks, hardly noticing when Phichit collides into his back with a tiny _oof!_

Victor turns around fully, an arm raised to wave amicably at the both of them. Yuuri can’t find it in him to wave back, as completely, and totally dismayed as he is.

Victor doesn’t _have_ a heart on his chest.

_Victor doesn’t have a route?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last update for the "year" before I leave for a little while on vacation! I really wanted to post something before the holidays, and another chapter of Press Start was a lot of fun to write. If you're wondering about more characters and more routes, don't worry! They will appear in the following chapters. Game tutorials are always sooo long, but the more information that's put into place, the more quickly we can get to the even funner parts!
> 
> Have a wonderful holiday and an amazing new year! ⌒(o＾▽＾o)ノ


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuuri is just even _more_ confused, and desperately needs a walkthrough. Or a Let's Play. _Anything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2-3 chapters I said! two to three!! not happening @ me, i should have known better. haha but it's too fun to end this early on, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it! thank you again for all the reads, the kudos, bookmarks, and comments!<3

Yuuri stares at the broad expanse of Victor’s chest, bare of any odd looking heart shaped indication of his affections for Yuuri. Yuuri even tugs off his glasses to quickly wipe over them with the sleeve of his blazer in hopes of somehow clearing his vision and seeing a heart when he puts them back on. (No such luck, though—and really, Yuuri should have known better, because now his glasses are extra smudged from the rough fabric of his blazer.)

“Good morning, Yuuri!” Victor says cheerfully. “And to your friend, too!”

_Good morning!_

_Talk about the request._

Yuuri ignores the dialogue options for once, unhappily looking between the blank faces of Victor, Phichit, and Victor’s companion. Yuuri had just actually noticed him now. He takes a quick moment to look at him; a man with incredible eyelashes and blonde hair. _Christophe, too?_ Yuuri thinks.

Then his attention is back on Victor. Yuuri quickly sidesteps around the dialogue choice box to make his way towards Victor, who stares affably at the spot Yuuri had just vacated. Yuuri stares into his coach’s eyes, long and hard, even going so far as to wave a hand in front of his face. Victor doesn’t react, and neither do Christophe and Phichit. 

“Why don’t you have a _heart?_ ” Yuuri says, feeling more than a little frustrated. He tugs at the suddenly constricting tie around his neck, feeling confusion and anxiety bubble up into an uncomfortable mixture somewhere in his gut. If Victor didn’t have a route, then what was Yuuri supposed to do? _Phichit might be the best choice, but I feel a little awkward about getting into anything_ romantic _with him… And with Victor, it’s… different._ Yuuri presses a hand against his eyes and sighs deeply. 

It takes him another moment, but Yuuri finally glances back up to realize that none of the other three men have moved from their spots, all staring at the place Yuuri had been with varying expressions of interest. “So if I really don’t choose an option, the game doesn’t advance,” Yuuri says dully. 

He takes a step towards the dialogue box, before pausing to look back at Victor. Yuuri has never really gotten the chance to look at his coach fully before. During training, or even times when Victor would insert himself into Yuuri’s space, Yuuri had had to look away as if turning away from the brightness of the sun. He’d taken the time to look at Victor’s posters before, too, but seeing his idol in person was something different. It was almost too much. 

But now, Victor isn’t even _looking_ at him. Or reacting. At all. (It’s incredibly creepy, Yuuri has to admit.) Even so… Yuuri retraces his step back towards Victor, shyly glancing up at the other man’s face. His coach’s hair looks _very_ soft, and those eyes were ones that Yuuri had always wanted to look into for prolonged periods of time, if only to finally decide whether they were mostly green or blue. _Mostly blue,_ Yuuri decides, only to rescind the thought when he steps to the side to see Victor’s eyes in a new light. _Or… maybe not. It really is both._ Then, _so pretty._

However, the chance to take in Victor’s appearance has only unsettled Yuuri even more, and he raises a hesitant hand to pluck at the sleeve of Victor’s high school blazer. 

“It’s different,” Yuuri says aloud, looking down at his and Victor’s shining school regulation shoes. “You’re him, but… you’re not. And I kind of miss him.” _I really miss him. And I really want to go home._

With the uneasy feeling still roiling in his stomach, Yuuri gives one last forlorn glance at Victor’s heart-free chest to take his place once again behind the dialogue box. 

_Talk about the request._

“Oh?” Victor says excitedly, coming back to life like an extremely well animated puppet. He leans back on one leg to cross his arms, beaming just as brightly as Yuuri’s Victor. “You have what I asked for?”

Yuuri wordlessly thrusts a hand out, and the blue flower sways a moment before settling. Victor looks pleased, and quickly reaches out to take it from Yuuri, who absolutely does _not_ blush at the feel of their hands brushing. 

“It’s exactly what I wanted!” Victor says, looking absolutely enthralled with the tiny blue flower that Yuuri had literally just plucked from the soil. It’s gone in another second, and Yuuri accepts its disappearance much like he’s beginning to accept everything else. _This game, really. Ugh._

“Oh? You have an errand boy now, Victor?” Christophe says from beside Yuuri’s coach, looking more curious than anything else. “He’s a cute one.”

“Isn’t he?” Victor agrees, and Yuuri’s jaw drops. _This game is just being unfair now!_ “He gave one to _me_ before, so I had to ask for another!”

Yuuri blinks, feeling surprise trickle into his senses. They were capable of remembering what gifts Yuuri had given them? _Well,_ Yuuri thinks, _that’s better than just going through all the pre-programmed motions and dialogue with them all. I think._

“What’s your name?” Christophe says then, winking flirtatiously at Yuuri. Yuuri glances at the tiny gray heart beating on Christophe’s chest before answering.

“Yuuri,” he replies, grateful that the dialogue box hadn’t chosen to pop up at that moment. “My name is Yuuri.”

“Nice to meet you,” Christophe says, smoothly stepping forward and extending a hand. “My name is Christophe.”

Yuuri has to keep himself from saying _I know._ “It’s nice to meet you. My friend’s name is Phichit.”

Phichit, who had been quietly—and oddly cheerfully—standing beside Yuuri, now extends his own hand in greeting. “Hello!”

Christophe happily accepts the hand, as does Victor, who beams at them both before settling back to bounce on his heels. “So,” he says, tugging at his tie, and Yuuri has to tear his eyes away from the base of Victor’s throat as he feels his cheeks begin to burn, “what brings you boys over here?”

“Just a delivery,” Phichit says easily, glancing at Yuuri with a friendly smile. “It’s just like Yuuri to want to get things done before the day really starts!”

“Oh,” Victor says, eyes warm as he turns to Yuuri. “Then thank you. I haven’t said that before already, huh?” 

_It’s okay._

_Don’t I get something in return?_

_Is there anything else I can do for you?_

Yuuri stares at the options, nibbling thoughtfully on his thumb. Option two was definitely out. But option three meant that there was a chance he’d have yet another reason to see Victor, so… 

“Anything else?” Victor says, looking bright. “Hm… Then, would you be willing to make a delivery for me? This one has to go to Georgi, one of the third years. He has kind of pointy hair? I’m sure you’ll find him soon. There’s no rush, too. I’d just like for him to get it whenever!” Victor shrugs nonchalantly, and Yuuri feels his mouth quirk up into a tiny smile at the familiar glibness of the other man. _Forgetful, works at his own pace,_ Yuuri thinks, mouth beginning to fall again at the corners. _He did the exact same thing to…_ Yuuri pauses and furrows his brow. _He was forgetful to… to who? I know Victor forgot something, something important… and then…_

Yuuri turns away to purse his lips, grateful that the other three men have turned to briefly chatting—something about the complexities of a hairstyle like Georgi’s. Yuuri feels another pinprick of unease as he furiously wracks his brain for the memory. A vision of arrowed green eyes floats into his mind, and Yuuri expels a quick, relieved sigh. _Yurio. Victor forgot his promise to Yurio, and… and we had a competition._

Then, _How could I forget that?_

“So, what do you say?” Victor says, finally turning away from the discussion of pointy hair to regard Yuuri with an easy smile. “Will you do it?”

_Yes._

_No._

Yuuri chooses the first option, glancing at the cheery _+1 request!_ that appears before him. The menu board slides open again, and Christophe and Victor disappear behind its opaqueness. _Deliver love story to Georgi! Deadline: None._

_’Love story’?_ Yuuri muses, willing the menu away. _Isn’t that kind of… mean? After all, Georgi’s skate theme is… is…_ Yuuri draws another blank, but before he can dwell on it, Phichit gently tugs at his arm.

“Yuuri, let’s go! We’ll be late for class!” 

“That’s right,” Christophe agrees, rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly looking sleepy. “Jeez, I don’t know how I’m going to stay awake in class.”

“You always say that,” Victor retorts, looking amused. “Well, it was good meeting you, Phichit. And Yuuri, just let me know whenever you’ve done the request, okay?”

“Okay.”

Victor pauses from where he’d begun to follow Christophe down the hallway, and turns back to Yuuri with wide eyes. “I didn’t even give you my thanks for finishing my request!”

“You did though,” Yuuri says, waving a hand in the air as if to dispel any of Victor’s worries. “And really, that’s okay.”

“Still,” Victor says, “here. Eat this, and you’ll feel yourself regaining energy whenever you need it!” He passes Yuuri a neatly packaged square of what looks to be butter cake, and Yuuri takes it gratefully.

“He’s right, Yuuri!” Phichit says enthusiastically. “You’ve got to be careful! Actions like sports, studying, or other things can really take energy away, and eating is a good way to refill!”

_Helpful NPC tips,_ Yuuri notes. “I see. And thank you, Victor.”

The other man merely waves before turning on his heel, and Yuuri stares at the blankness of the left side of Victor’s chest before it’s turned away from view. Yuuri turns, too, to follow Phichit down their own end of the hallway—

—and into a loud and bustling school cafeteria. Yuuri’s senses whirl before he rubs at his eyes behind his glasses. Phichit is no longer by Yuuri’s side, and instead calls out his name from somewhere in the cafeteria’s line. “Over here, Yuuri! Quick!”

Yuuri jogs over to his friend, carefully sidestepping other students and the edges of many tables. _Well. At least this is something new._ He turns the ring over on his thumb with an index finger, absentmindedly fiddling with it as he casts his eyes about the room. If it’s lunchtime, then it means that he might see Victor. 

He spots Minami, though, seated not too far away from where Phichit is standing, and Minami’s eyes light up when he locks gazes with Yuuri. When he half stands to wave an arm in greeting, Yuuri notes the pink heart beating brightly on the left side of Minami’s chest. _Pink,_ he muses, _already?_

He waves a hand in return as he joins Phichit in the line, and Minami beams before plopping back down into his seat to refocus his efforts on his lunch. 

“No homemade lunch today, right?” Phichit asks, and Yuuri presents empty hands to his friend.

“None. My mom just gave me extra katsudon to spend for lunch this morning.”

“Mmh.” Phichit turns back around to tap thoughtfully against his lunch tray, before pointing at something to a generic faced lunch staff. 

On Yuuri’s part, a menu box pops up into existence before his eyes. _Fish meal,_ Yuuri reads. _10\. Chicken meal, 5. Variety box, 15 katsudon…_

Phichit waits patiently somewhere beyond the line as Yuuri makes his selection, the number of katsudon above his head cheerily jangling as they’re reduced, and the meal bursts into existence on his own lunch tray. 

“We can sit where ever,” Phichit says, absently glancing around the room. “But that person from the first day of classes? I think he wants us to sit with him. Aw, he’s so tiny! He reminds me of one of my hamsters!” Phichit pauses, carefully balancing his tray on one hand to lift the other to his lips in thought. “Though my hamster definitely doesn’t have any tufts of red hair.”

_Minami?_ Yuuri looks up to see the boy waving energetically from the same seat nearby, and his smile only widens when he realizes that he’s gotten Yuuri’s attention now too. 

“Sure,” Yuuri says. Minami… Yuuri’s met him before. After all, he’d recognized the boy his first day in the game. But where? 

The blanks in Yuuri’s memory have steadily begun to worsen—but was that really the case? They may just be minor details that Yuuri himself hadn’t bothered to pay much attention to. But still, what of his memories of the Hot Springs on Ice competition? That had _definitely_ been important.

Yuuri is quickly distracted by Phichit and Minami cheerfully greeting each other, and he settles his tray down next to Phichit’s, grateful for even the smallest respites from the fast pace of the game. _I’ll figure it out later,_ Yuuri decides as he examines his food. Just as real looking (and tasting) as the other items he’d encountered before. _Besides, I can ask Yurio. I still have to ask him today’s two questions._ At this, Yuuri remembers what Yurio had said about his health points, and quickly glances up to see that barely a fraction of his health had been depleted. 

When Yuuri moves his eyes away from the health bar, he finds Minami beaming back at him. “I’m glad we’re sitting together today, Yuuri! I haven’t really seen you around during lunchtimes!”

_Because the game made me skip it,_ Yuuri thinks wryly as he absently rolls his chopsticks between his fingers. A second later, they drop from his hand in surprise when Yuuri sees Minami’s pink heart flash once before settling back to its more subdued pink color. _Uh-oh. I guess this counts as an act of affection?_

Yuuri stifles his urge to groan loudly, wishing desperately that Yurio was more cooperative, or that he had access to the Internet for a walkthrough. As if anyone had played _this_ game before, though. _I guess I’ll just have to figure things out for myself though,_ Yuuri muses, glancing between twin pink hearts. _And Victor… Victor wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t a candidate. He has to have a route. He’s too important to m…_ Yuuri coughs around a packing of rice in his throat, and Phichit pauses mid-chew to glance up at him in alarm. _I mean, important to me as a coach. Our real relationship is only…_

“Yuuri?” Phichit asks, looking worried. “Everything okay?”

Yuuri clears his throat before shooting Phichit a tiny smile. “Of course! Totally fine.”

For the rest of the lunch period, Yuuri listens with half an ear to Phichit and Minami’s relaxed chatter, concerning classes and club activities that the game hadn’t allowed Yuuri to be privy to. Luckily, they don’t seem to notice Yuuri’s lack of contribution to the conversation, which allows him to glance curiously around the room and observe his hp gauge as it slowly fills up the tiny empty fraction. He finds Victor too, and his heart leaps up at the sight of Victor lounging against the table, head resting on his hand as he speaks between mouthfuls to Christophe and a couple of other generic faced classmates. 

Yuuri stares—he can’t help it. As if feeling Yuuri’s gaze on him, Victor glances up from his meal to lock eyes with Yuuri, and a small smile quirks up the corner of his lips as he gives Yuuri a tiny wave. 

Yuuri quickly waves back just as the bell rings, and there’s a loud rustle as students quickly gather the remnants of their meals to dump it in the trash as they head out to the hallway. Phichit stays close to his side, and they wave Minami goodbye as he hastens to toss his stuff away and rush to his classroom. “It’s on the other side of the building!” Minami explains as he scrambles away. “I’ll see you both later! Bye, Yuuri!”

Yuuri pauses just by the double doors of the cafeteria, looking out into the hallway warily. He’s almost one hundred percent sure that once he steps through those doors, he’s going to go through another time skip. Thanks to that, Yuuri is only slightly disoriented when he steps through the doors to find himself exiting the front of the school and into the easy chatter of students relieved to be done with school for another day. 

“Finally!” Phichit yawns, stretching grandly from where he’s beside Yuuri. “Tiring day as always, huh?” 

“I guess… I mean, yeah,” Yuuri amends, sighing. “Sure.” _So glad I don’t actually have to go through another round of first year classes._

“And it’s Wednesday too!” Phichit says cheerfully. “My club doesn’t meet on Wednesdays. We finally get to walk home together!”

“Alright,” Yuuri says easily, grateful for the company. He bounces the strap of his bag further up his shoulder as they begin to walk, quickly slipping into a (rather one sided) conversation on Phichit’s classes and current teachers. 

“And he threw a piece of chalk at me to wake me up! I thought that only happened on TV!” Phichit says as they slow to a stop in front of Yuuri’s front door, sounding affronted over Yuuri’s laughter. “A piece of chalk, Yuuri! I know it doesn’t seem like much, but the way he threw it, it was like a projectile missile!” 

“I bet,” Yuuri says through a fresh round of laughter. “But that’s why you shouldn’t be sleeping in class Phichit…” He pauses, hearing the softest tinkle of musical notes begin to sound off from somewhere nearby. Or all around them? “Phichit? Is your cellphone going off?”

“You know, Yuuri,” Phichit says slowly, as if his friend hadn’t even spoken in the first place. “I’m so glad we were able to go to school together again! We’ve been friends for so long… and every moment with you is special!” 

Yuuri stares blankly at Phichit as his friend smiles shyly at the ground between them. _Oh. Wait. What is happening._ And then, _Is the music growing louder? Is that_ Shall We Skate _?_

The instrumental of Phichit’s short program music is definitely floating around them now, seemingly coming from all directions at once. _’Many have skated to this song, but I want to skate it with my own feelings and heart, and give a different kind of life to the music!’_ Yuuri remembers Phichit telling him. 

“That’s why I really cherish our friendship,” the in-game Phichit says now, finally looking up to regard Yuuri with a warm look. In turn, Yuuri looks at him, unsettled, but the expression on his face goes unnoticed by this Phichit, completely swept away by the game’s programming. The pink heart on Phichit’s chest seems brighter than usual too. “And so, I just wanted to know… we’ll be close forever, right?”

_Of course!_

_Well, maybe. Who knows where life will take us?_

_But we can have other friends too, right?_

Yuuri takes one look at Phichit’s hopeful eyes, groans internally, and selects _Of course!_

Phichit laughs, a delighted sound that cuts high above the instrumental of his short program music. His pink heart gives a quick, bright flash of light, and Yuuri blinks against its intensity before it settles back down to its normal shade. “That’s what I thought you’d say! Perfect. Well that’s that, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” And with another warm look, Phichit turns on his heel to cheerfully head down the street. The music seems to follow after him, and soon enough it fades, leaving Yuuri standing in front of his doorway with the neighborhood’s natural quiet quickly taking over. 

Yurio screeches loud enough to wake the heavens when Yuuri barrels through his bedroom door, eyes wild and bag of pirozhkis dangling precariously from his hand. 

“Calm down first, pig!” Yurio snaps, quickly darting up to seek refuge at the top of one of Yuuri’s bedposts. “And if you drop those, you’re on your own!”

“Ah, sorry,” Yuuri wheezes, gently setting the bag on the cover of his bed. Yurio twitches his whiskers warily at him before hopping down onto the bedspread and stuffing his head into the bag, quickly dragging out two pirozhki. “Okay? So, what is it now?”

“Yurio,” Yuuri says, nervously readjusting his glasses against his face, “there was music. I mean, first there was Phichit, and then music came on, and I had to choose dialogue like usual, but it seemed to have even _more_ of an effect on Phichit’s affection? What _was_ that?”

“Ohhhh.” Yurio seems more than happy to comply this time as he paws at his whiskers and leaves crumbs on the bed. “That was a heart event. I told you how the hearts change color? There’s an event for each color. If that was the first time you’ve seen one, then that’s just the first one for that Thai skater. Everyone has them after you get them to a pink heart.” Yuuri smirks just as much as a cat can smirk, which only makes him look adorable. “You have to see all the events to pass the route for that person. They only happen at certain times and areas, so it looks like you got lucky with this one.”

“But I don’t _want_ Phichit’s route,” Yuuri groans, slumping face first into the bedspread beside Yurio and undoubtedly getting crumbs in his hair. 

“Then who _do_ you want?” Yurio says, sounding as if he doesn’t particularly care as he tears into his second Pirozhki.

“Victor…” Yuuri mumbles into the fabric. His glasses dig into his face uncomfortably, and Yuuri turns his head to the side. “Yurio… does Victor _have_ a route?”

Yurio pauses mid-chew to regard Yuuri with narrowed green eyes. His tail flicks, and Yuuri follows the movement. “Yes.”

Yuuri shoots up, delight overtaking his features. “Really?”

“Ye-es,” Yurio drawls, pointedly turning back to his food. “Jeez, were you seriously worried about that? You have the ring, but that doesn’t mean you have an advantage for _everyone_. In Victor’s case, you won’t be able to see the heart, but you’ll be able to take on his route. It makes everything that much more difficult, but he’s a difficult idiot, so it works out.”

“Thank you, Yurio!” Yuuri says excitedly, shoving away from the bed (and heedless of Yurio’s disgruntled meow) as he makes his way towards the door. “If it’s possible, then I should work hard to win his affection, right? And I remember what he likes to eat.”

“Gross,” Yurio says through a mouthful of Pirozhki. 

 

— — —

 

Yuuri walks steadily in the direction of the faculty offices, careful not to jostle the paper bag in his hands. He’d waved off Phichit earlier on after telling him he’d meet the other for lunch before quickly making his way to where he’d last spoken to Victor. Luckily, Victor is there again as if by routine, passing a stack of papers to Christophe, who looks entirely put out. Christophe brightens, though, when he sees Yuuri heading over, and he lifts up a hand to wave.

“If it isn’t the cute little errand boy. Here for Victor again?”

“Yes, kind of.” Yuuri blushes when Victor turns, his ever present smile already on his face. 

“Yuuri!” Victor says cheerfully. “How are you!” 

“Good, thank you,” Yuuri replies. His shoes squeak loudly against the floor of the hallway as he shifts nervously.

“Have you come to talk about the request?”

“Actually, no,” Yuuri says, hefting the bag in his hands. “This… I usually only like the way my mom makes it, but last night I had her teach me, and I just wanted to share it with you. As thanks for the… cake,” Yuuri finishes lamely. “It’s a pork cutlet bowl.”

“Pork cutlet bowl!” Victor gasps, looking as if Yuuri has just handed him the right numbers to a million dollar lottery. “That’s my favorite!” He’s quick to take it from Yuuri’s hands, and after a single blink, the bag is gone from sight. “Thank you, Yuuri!”

“You’re welcome,” Yuuri says, eyes scanning Victor’s chest for any sign of a flash of heart. None. _But he does have a route,_ Yuuri reassures himself. 

“I’ll definitely have it for lunch,” Victor says warmly. “Now the bell’s about to ring, and I’d hate to make you late. See you later?”

“Yes!” Yuuri says eagerly, quickly waving to both Christophe and Victor as they step away. “I’ll definitely be back with more,” Yuuri murmurs. 

Yuuri turns away, already intent on making another batch for Victor the next day. And the next. _If the fastest way to level up affection is through gifts,_ Yuuri thinks, _I’ll make sure that they’re all things that Victor likes. And then I’ll get his first heart event!_

It’s easier said than done, though. The only time skips the game gives him during the day are, luckily, during classes, so Yuuri makes sure to stay in Victor’s general vicinity during the lunch break and after school. Nothing happens—no music, no dialogue. Whenever he goes up to Victor during the day, Yuuri only receives a generic one lined dialogue, and a friendly prompt to talk to Victor about the request. The day continues, then ends, and Yuuri frustratedly begins the next. 

_When does a route end? What happens if I have multiple routes going on at the same time?_ are Yuuri’s questions for Yurio that day, to which the cat replies, _when you confess, or you accept their confession. If you have more than one, you’re a greedy pig, but also, nothing happens, really, unless you go all the way to the end._

And Yuuri sighs and starts another day. 

He heads straight to Victor again this morning, waving off a cheerful Phichit once more, and is warmly greeted by both Christophe and Victor. He hands off the pork cutlet bowl to the in-game Victor, who once again warmly accepts it. Another prompt to talk about the request, to which Yuuri declines, and they go their separate ways.

Lunchtime. A warm smile, and another prompt to talk about the request, which Yuuri waves off before he’s pulled away to eat by a happily chattering Minami. 

When the final time skip of the day happens, Yuuri is on edge. It hadn’t taken long for Phichit and Minami’s hearts to turn pink, and not long after that for Yuuri to encounter Phichit’s first heart event. So now that he was actively looking for Victor’s, why hadn’t it shown up yet? Was Victor still at a gray heart?

Yuuri tails Victor at the end of the school day, but the other man merely settles himself in a seat in the library, head dipped downward towards a book and one hand freely jotting down notes. Yuuri slumps behind a notebook a couple of tables down before the hours continue to trickle by, and eventually he slides his chair back and leaves, exasperated. Victor doesn’t even look up. 

_This is going to take a loooong while,_ Yuuri groans inwardly, squeezing his eyes shut as he drags his feet through the corridors. _I just… I just want to go home. I just want to be back with a Victor who knows me, and isn’t programmed to have generic conversations…_

Yuuri lets out a harsh puff of air when he collides with another person, and the latter yelps, sounding affronted. Luckily, Yuuri doesn’t end up toppling over (unlike the other times before), and his eyes widen at the sight of a familiar disgruntled face. 

Georgi scowls down at him before glancing down to readjust his blazer, and the gray heart on his chest blinks innocently. “Hey. Watch where you’re going, first year.” Then he sighs. “Please.”

“Sorry. Georgi, right?” Yuuri says, and even as he’s thinking it, the menu board slides open to deposit a thin paperback book into his hands. 

“Yes?”

“I have something for you. From Victor.” Yuuri holds it out, but not before seeing a gray cover embossed with tiny gold lettering. _Tale of a Sleeping P—_ is all Yuuri catches before Georgi’s hand closes over the tiny paperback.

“Oh, cool. Thanks. I’ve been looking forward to reading this one,” the man says, turning the pretty much blank covered book in his hands speculatively. “I have one that Victor’s been looking for, too, if you’ll take it to him. I don’t have anything for you though, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Yuuri says easily. “I can take it to him now, actually. I just saw him in the library…” Georgi deposits the book into Yuuri’s hands, and it blinks out of sight and up into the menu board before Yuuri can take a good look at its cover. 

“Thanks,” Georgi repeats, already turning on his heel. “He’s been looking for that for a while. Tell him I said hi! And that if this book makes me cry, I’ll… he’ll definitely be hearing from me!”

“Will do,” Yuuri says to Georgi’s retreating back. “I guess… I’ll just deliver it now. No sense it waiting.” _And I want to see him again anyway, so…_

Yuuri turns and heads back to the library much faster than necessary, and is relieved to see Victor still in the same seat, deeply engrossed in a different textbook. 

“Victor,” Yuuri stage whispers, shooting a careful glance to the blank faced librarian at the desk. “ _Victor._ ”

His idol looks up and shoots him a startled looking grin. “Yuuri. Did you need to talk to me about the request?”

“Actually, yes,” Yuuri replies, and the book flops into his hands once again. This time, its a hardcover, and Yuuri doesn’t catch the title with as quickly it disappears into Victor’s hands.

“Aaah,” he says. “I’ve been looking for this for a while. Thank you, Yuuri. I have an energy drink for you as thanks for the request. Christophe has said that he’d like your help too, Yuuri, so you should talk to him sometime.”

“I will,” Yuuri says quietly, and watches as Victor gives him another warm smile before turning away again to stare blankly at his textbook. Yuuri waits a moment longer, but it doesn’t look like Victor’s going to do anything more unless Yuuri initiates a conversation himself. So Yuuri leaves, downcast. 

_Day by day,_ Yuuri tells himself solemnly, deeply missing his old life once again. _This will end. Might as well enjoy it. Right?_ Yuuri broods as he steps past the library doors, and looks out the window when something blue catches his eye. 

It’s another flower patch of those blue flowers again, and Yuuri eyes them as he pauses mid step. The ones he’d taken before had regenerated with each new day. There wouldn’t be any harm in gathering extra gifts for Victor, would there?

Moments later, Yuuri finds himself in a grassy area at the side of the school. He crouches down to watch the flowers bounce in the breeze. _Pretty,_ he thinks, _but unlike any flower I’ve ever seen before. No wonder Victor likes these._ Yuuri sighs, jostling the flower closest to him. 

The flowers continue to sway and bounce in the breeze, and Yuuri fancies them dancing to an unheard tune. Or a very apparent tune, actually. Yuuri perks up as the airy notes of a song float into his ears, and he freezes. _Stay Close to Me?_

It’s the instrumental of Victor’s song. Feeling like his heart is in his throat, Yuuri wheels up and around. He’s greeted by the sight of Victor Nikiforov, who regards Yuuri with gentle eyes and a warm smile, hands tucked into his pockets like he’d been watching Yuuri for a while.

“Hello, Yuuri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is confused by the structure of the game, let me know! I'm going off of the dynamics of the harvest moon games (though slightly different), which I love to death, but it may just end up being totally confusing for someone who hasn't played them before? Hopefully I expanded enough on it within the fic, but if not, let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor - Student Body President, year 3  
> Chris - Vice President, year 2  
> Phichit - year 1  
> Minami - year 1  
> Georgi - year 3  
> Yuuri - year 1  
> Yurio - cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I am _so_ sorry for the delay between chapters. It's been difficult to write lately, but as always, I truly love and appreciate all the feedback and kudos! If you've left a comment/kudos and read _any_ of my works, just know that I'm sending you all the good vibes I can possibly give.  <3 I may not have time to respond to all comments, but I will definitely try to respond when I can, or to direct questions!!
> 
> Updates may be short and long in between, but I hope you'll excuse me and stick around for the ride! (Cause this is definitely a 'indulge your heart and write with only the overall plot points intact' kind of work haha!)

The sun shines brightly onto the scene before Yuuri, the flowers swaying gently in the breeze, almost in sync with the soft instrumental melody of _Stay Close to Me_ playing in the background. Victor faces him, poised like an actor onstage, and all in all, Yuuri figures he would find it all very charming—if it weren’t for the fact that he just saw Victor a few minutes ago, and the man is looking at him like they haven’t seen each other in ages. (His heart skips a little beat anyway because, well, it’s Victor.)

“Enjoying the afternoon?” Victor asks, and Yuuri figures that he doesn’t need to say anything until a dialogue box pops up for him. He’s pretty sure that it’s all scripted dialogue from here on out, and Yuuri fiddles with the front of his uniform as he unabashedly stares at Victor’s face. 

Victor pauses for a short while, and Yuuri’s almost concerned that the game has frozen—and if it _could_ freeze, that would be absolutely terrifying. Yuuri’s quickly sinking himself into a mild panic, thinking up scenarios of him wandering a frozen game, waving his hands in front of his friends’ blank faces, when Victor throws his head back in a delighted laugh.

“Wha—“

“What’s that you say?” Victor says over him, laughter finally subsiding. “It’s even better now that I’m here? That’s so sweet of you, Yuuri!”

_I definitely did_ not _say that,_ Yuuri thinks flatly, feeling perplexed. 

“Oh? And I took you by surprise? I’m sorry if I startled you.” Victor beams, and Yuuri swoons a little on the inside. 

“I came out here for a little fresh air,” Victor continues, sighing as he rakes a hand through his hair. “I was studying in the library, and it was beginning to feel a little stuffy to be honest. I was a little surprised to find you out here, too, because this is actually my favorite spot!”

“I know, I was just in the library a few minutes ago, talking to you,” Yuuri says, and once again, Victor speaks as if he hasn’t said a single word.

“To tell you the truth, it’s been feeling like that a lot, lately.” Victor’s shoulders hunch forward a little bit, and the tiniest curve to his back sends a pang of worry through Yuuri. “Ah, like things have gotten ‘stuffy’ and… tiring, I guess.”

_It’s just a heart event, it’s scripted, it’s not real._

There’s another pause where Yuuri assumes that he’s ‘talking’ again, and Victor perks up.

“You’re right, taking a break is alright every now and then. But to tell you the truth, it isn’t just studying…” Victor looks nervous now, and Yuuri wants to reach forward and hug him. Not that Victor would even notice, anyway. “I just feel like… overall, things have been a bit… difficult. Oh, but what am I saying to a freshman?” He laughs. “You must think it’s pathetic for a senior to try and vent to an underclassman, am I right? Especially if he’s your school president.”

The dialogue option box springs into existence before Yuuri’s eyes, and he eyes his choices warily.

_You’re right. Man up!_

_I’ve been having those troubles too._

_It isn’t bad to rely on people once in a while, though._

Yuuri freezes. Didn’t the choices seem… a little ambiguous now? Aside from the first one, Yuuri can’t tell which of the two will put him into Victor’s good graces. 

_It’s difficult to tell what ticks Victor off in the first place,_ Yuuri admits to himself as he peers at the options like a particularly difficult math question. _Telling him that I’m having the same troubles could end up making him think that I want him to focus on my troubles instead, and knowing Victor, he’d probably do that without a second thought. So doesn’t the third option seem like the best choice?_

Yuuri frustratedly scrubs his hands against his face before resettling his glasses on his nose. _But the second option could show him that I’m empathizing with him, which could get me even more of those affection points. But even if I pick the wrong one, how can I tell if it affects him or not? I can’t even see his heart color!_

Victor looks back at him patiently, looking content to stay in that position for the possible _hours_ it would take for Yuuri to finally come to a decision.

“I need a walkthrough,” Yuuri groans, eyeing the menu above him hopefully. When it doesn’t respond, Yuuri sighs and turns back to the now foreboding dialogue option box. The cursor clicks steadily towards the third choice, and Yuuri eyes Victor warily once it’s selected.

He lets out a relieved breath at the look on Victor’s face. It’s surprised, but Yuuri’s pretty sure he can see the tinge of pink on Victor’s face, and if he remembers right, a pleasantly surprised Victor is a happy Victor. 

“Are you saying that I can rely on you?” Victor says, his face melting into a smile, and even though Yuuri is pretty sure this in-game Victor can’t register it, he nods anyway. 

“Yuuri…” Victor says, eyes soft. “That’s very sweet of you.”

Oops. Yuuri feels his cheeks begin to heat up at the sight of Victor’s expression, and for one of the first times ever since starting the game, he’s grateful that the real Victor isn’t here to see the all too obvious blush tinging his cheeks. 

(A second later, though, Yuuri thinks about it again, and yeah, he still misses the real Victor.) 

“If I ever need someone to lean on, I guess I have you. And the same goes for you as well!” Victor says, beaming. “I’m more than happy to help you out with anything you might need. If you ever need help with any schoolwork, I’m particularly good with all subjects too. Or if you need help with physical education… I’m definitely skilled in that area as well.”

The following wink burns Yuuri’s ears, and he knows without having to see himself that his entire face is aflame. _Was that—was that an—_

Victor’s laugh startles him out of his startled silence. “I mean, I’m pretty good at most sports! If you need any help at all, just consider me a coach you can count on!”

_Oh,_ Yuuri thinks, feeling a mixture of mortification at his mistake, and an inkling of relief. _He literally meant he’d help. Right?_

And a second later, _coach?_

The word sends Yuuri’s brain spinning again, and after a moment of long confusion, Yuuri exhales. _Right. Coach. Outside of this game, Victor is my coach. And my…_

“I’ll have to leave you now,” Victor cuts in, sounding downcast, and Yuuri is dragged away from his muddled thought process. “The best way to act on a worry is to do something about it, I suppose. That, or curl up with a nice bottle of vodka!”

_Aren’t we technically underage here?_ Yuuri thinks amusedly, eyeing both Victor’s high school uniform. _This game really is ridiculous._

Then Victor reaches forward, and Yuuri’s heart does about ten somersaults in his chest. Victor’s fingers are warm on his chin, gently tipping his head up to lock eyes. Yuuri’s head suddenly aches—it feels like the warmth of the in-game sun feels more fluorescent than natural now, and the air around him feels suddenly chilled. The soft green of the grass around them reflects the light harshly, sharply cutting into Yuuri’s vision like a bright light against ice. An ice rink—it feels like Yuuri’s in an ice rink, and instead of a uniform, Victor is in a black athletic shirt, a jacket tied loosely around his waist—

“See you later, then,” Victor says suddenly, before giving Yuuri’s nose a tiny tap and retracting his hand. Yuuri’s surroundings wink out of existence, cutting to black like the transition of a video game. Before Yuuri has the chance to panic, the area winks back into place, sans Victor. Everything seems back to normal too, and Yuuri gives himself one moment to look around to see if Victor really was gone. 

“So…” Yuuri says, before doubling over with his hands on his knees. “So _confusing!_ ”

 

— — —

 

“What?” Yurio drawls as Yuuri barrels into the room with a wild look on his face. “You’re doing this _again?_ Drop any of my pirozhki, and I’ll rip your uniform to shreds, piggy. They aren’t cheap here, you know.”

“Yurio!” Yuuri wheezes. “Heart event! Victor!”

“Finally.” Yurio watches as Yuuri flops down face first into the bed, then carefully picks his way across the fabric to hop onto the back of his head. He stays there, despite Yuuri’s muffled protests. “I thought you were never going to get things rolling.”

“This game is too _hard_ ,” Yuuri gasps, having successfully turned his head to the side. Yurio stays stubbornly perched on his head though, and Yuuri finds himself struggling to breathe past Yurio’s tail and endure the dig of his glasses against the side of his face. “And something weird happened near the end. It was really confusing.”

“What, you feel a little skip in the beat of your heart?” Yurio asks, pressing a paw against Yuuri’s nose and sending his glasses askew. “Don’t make me explain to you what that is. Honestly, you’re like one of those girls in your Japanese comics that Mila reads.”

“She’s in the game too?” Yuuri says, perking up a little. He gets a paw over the mouth for his troubles.

“Forget I said anything.” Yuuri hears the cat yawn before melting in on himself and seemingly getting into a more comfortable position on the side of Yuuri’s head. “Anyway, don’t you have any actual questions? I want my pirozhki.”

The menu flashes, and Yuuri watches as the bag of pirozhki pops into existence. Yurio immediately scrambles over to the bag to look over its contents eagerly. 

“Yurio,” Yuuri says slowly after some thought. “Why am I here?”

The bag stops rustling. 

“Sorry, can’t answer that.”

“Why!” Yuuri sits up, glowering at the cat, who glares right back at him. “Why can’t I ask why I’m here in the first place? Or could it be that you don’t know either?”

Yurio’s tail fluffs up. “Keep it up, piglet, and I’ll chuck this bag down the trash. It’ll suck for me, but it’ll be even worse for you.”

Yuuri groans and drags himself fully onto the bed, mindless of the new wrinkles in his uniform. “I’m just so confused… and my head hurts…”

The rustle of the paper bag begins again. “Probably cause your stamina is pretty low right now. Did you look at it at all today?”

Yuuri glances up, eyes widening at the sight of a sorely depleted health bar. “What—I didn’t even do anything! What happened?”

“You came home a little later than usual,” Yurio supplies, oddly compliant for once. “And when was the last time you ate? Lunch? Aside from the more strenuous actions, you _will_ lose points if you don’t eat. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“No.”

“Oops.” Yurio paws the bag halfheartedly. “Looks like you only have enough health to ask one question today… which sucks, cause I wanted two to eat. But whatever. C’mon, ask a good one.”

“Fine,” Yuuri sighs, passing a hand across his face. “I, uh… I want to increase Victor’s affection points faster. Is there any way to do that?”

“Aren’t you giving him gifts and doing his requests?” Yurio says impatiently.

“I did, and I did one request…”

“Do more,” Yurio says gruffly as he drags a pirozhki out of the bag. “But if it helps, there are things you can wear. If he likes what you’re wearing, then he’ll say something about it, and it’ll help you.” Yurio swipes a paw across his whiskers and mumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like, “it’s not like he’s as much of an idiot as he likes to act.”

“What?”

“I said, do that and you’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t say that.”

“Shut up!” Yurio yowls. “Anyway, you can buy accessories at different points of the game. Try not to rush things. It’s a sore loser mentality, you know!”

“Maybe Victor would like sunglasses,” Yuuri muses, attempting to wrack his brain for ideas. “Or a nice hat. There isn’t much I can wear since I’m always in uniform, right?”

Yurio grunts noncommittally, the sound of his chewing his only response. 

“Maybe there’s a style of jacket that he prefers on people,” Yuuri continues, pressing a hand against his chin in thought. “The real Victor never said anything about my outfits, so it doesn’t help me much here.”

“He didn’t?” Yurio says distractedly, licking at a paw for crumbs. 

“No. Well, I mean, he _did_ say something once, about not liking a… it was something of mine, but I can’t remember what.” Yuuri frowns. “It’ll come back to me eventually, I’m sure. But for now, I’ll do a bunch of requests and get paid in katsudon, and come back with a style that’ll keep Victor by my side!”

“Woo,” Yurio cheers blandly, a disappointed droop to his ears at a lack of pirozhki. “By the way, this is just a thought, but haven’t you ever played a game before? Your profile said you were a gamer.” His ear twitches. “Not… that I’ve looked. I’ve heard.”

“Yes?” Yuuri says, choosing to bypass the logic of how an in-game Yurio could possible know of his skating background and official profile. “I have!”

“Don’t you know you should search around the entire room, then?” Yurio yawns. “You search everywhere, click the ‘A’ button for everything, do this, do that, explore…”

“W-well, this is a little different, isn’t it,” Yuuri says, already scrambling to his feet to poke around the room. He hears a tiny chime when he opens a clothes drawer, and a _+5 katsudon!_ pops into existence before gently floating away. He thinks it’s the only thing he’ll find until he opens his closet and digs around, startling when his hand brushes against something soft.

_Hat obtained!_ presents the game, and Yuuri walks out of the closet with a hat of soft green material in his hands. It’s shaped like a beanie, with two round edges sticking out of the top. _Bear?_ he thinks. _Or frog?_

Yuuri somehow wills a description, which the menu easily presents. _‘One of five in the cutest line of hats, this is a must wear for anyone who is a lover of anything adorable!’_

“Victor likes cute things, right?” Yuuri says, but when he turns to look at Yurio, he finds the cat fast asleep on the pillow, flank gently rising and falling with each breath. “I guess I’ll wear it then,” Yuuri whispers to himself, and the hat flashes away from his hands, a soft fabric falling around his ears. 

Yuuri feels upwards for the soft tipped ears. _Wow. I wish dressing in real life was as easy as this._

And despite the fact that he’d never wear anything like this out in public (especially with how brightly colored it was), Yuuri resolves to wear it tomorrow to school. _Anything to help me up Victor’s affection points_ , he thinks.

 

— — —

 

Of course, he soon finds out that it may not be _Victor’s_ preferred accessory, but someone else’s.

“Yuuri!” Phichit gasps the moment he sees his childhood friend. “What a cute hat! You look just like one of my hamsters!”

_How could I forget?_ Yuuri groans inwardly as the little pink heart on Phichit’s chest flashes once. _’Lover of anything adorable’? That has Phichit written all over it._

Still, he decides to keep it on for the rest of the day. People could share accessory preferences, couldn’t they?

Unfortunately, Victor looks unfazed when Yuuri visits to give him his daily flower. Aside from the generic thanks that Yuuri receives, Victor says nothing else, no matter how long Yuuri stands there, waiting. He even waits long enough for Chris to round the corner, papers in his hands, a signal of the passage of in-game time. Victor perks up at his arrival to take the papers in his own hands, and only acknowledging Yuuri with a smile when he brushes past him, close enough to touch.

Chris, on the other hand, looks at Yuuri’s hat with a dazzling smile. “How adorable! Look at you setting trends and taking strides in fashion. You look cute enough to squeeze in that hat!”

Yuuri sighs. 

Minami doesn’t react when Yuuri meets him at lunch, but Phichit beams at his hat once again, and Yuuri mentally tucks it into his inventory with another internal sigh. His childhood friend doesn’t say anything more, and with the hat away and out of sight, the only dialogue between the two continue to be the generic one or two liners, and another funny classroom story that Phichit seems to be programmed chalk full of. 

And Yuuri sits there, head aching from the constant time skips and reruns of dialogue. He’s still trying to figure things out—he knows from experience that his friends will periodically acknowledge his own, non-programmed words. Were those events? Or were those times that the game allowed free interaction? 

During events, Yuuri notes, there are absolutely no opportunities for him to actually speak, aside from the main choice that could either bring the candidates’ affection up or down. (Honestly, at this point, Yuuri realizes he should probably be writing all these things down and make his _own_ damn walkthrough.)

More than anything else, Yuuri knows that he wants the game to progress with _Victor_ , and not with Phichit, or any of the others. And so, he resolves that he’ll do anything, _wear_ anything, if it helped him win Victor’s good graces in even the smallest measure. 

So when a generic NPC classmate comes up to him the next day with a request for an obscure book in exchange for an outfit piece, Yuuri eagerly goes on a wild hunt in throughout both the library and the school grounds, only to find a dusty red paperback not on a shelf, but flopped haphazardly under a bench in front of the school entrance. 

_Oh no,_ Yuuri thinks forebodingly as he receives his item from the unnamed student. _Oh_ no, he repeats when he tries it on later that night, much to the wild and _very_ vocal amusement of Yurio, sitting on the bed across the room. 

_I… hate this game._

 

— — —

 

“Yuuri!” Victor gasps delightedly the following day, a serene-faced Chris standing by his side. Chris looks absolutely unfazed at the sight before him, whereas Victor looks absolutely amazed. 

As he should. If this Victor mirrored the preferences of the Victor in real-life, then Yuuri had some _very_ serious questions for if—when—he got out of this stupid game.

Victor launches himself at Yuuri, and the latter can’t even find it in him to feel happy about it, because Victor is pressing a cheek against the ridiculous looking poodle head Yuuri has consigned himself to wearing. 

Yuuri couldn’t have helped but agree with Yurio’s wheezed laughter from last night (and really, the cat had sounded like he would have choked himself on a hairball had Yuuri not angrily shoved the costume head back into his inventory). 

The poodle head is obviously a piece of an entire cartoon-ish outfit that Yuuri supposes is modeled after Makkachin, and at the sight of it, he’d already _known_ that it would be one of in-game Victor’s favorite items.

“Why,” says Yuuri, his voice muffled by the material, and the excited laughter of Victor Nikiforov. “Why.”

“How fun! Is it Halloween? Are you in a play? This is so cute!” Victor continues, mindless of Yuuri’s internal turmoil.

_Well, whatever,_ Yuuri thinks resignedly, attempting to watch Victor through the tiniest of eye holes in the stupid poodle costume head. _If it makes him happy and gets me points, it’s fine. I guess._

(Still, after Victor’s programmed excitement dies back down to his charming but generic greeting and flower appreciation, Yuuri swears he’d never wear the thing again, no matter how many points it got him.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any of you playing trio of towns? Because it's definitely giving me tons of inspo right now! And heck yeah that makkachin head is definitely a nod to Woofio lol. And also, when I _can_ play, I'm working to get Wayne up to that red flower ya know. Wot in romantic farming simulation!!!!!
> 
> If there are any mistakes, please excuse them! And hopefully I will see you again soon<3
> 
> You can find me at [tadacchi](http://tadacchi.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


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